Life's Changes
by cdub77
Summary: Life doesn't always turn out the way you want it. Grace-centric, future fic, slightly AU.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

Hi everyone. This is my first fic in the Mentalist fandom. I'm taking a slightly different approach in this story—it'll be Grace-centric; and slightly AU. I hope it all makes sense in the end; as I'll be trying to tie it back to canon.

Also, do know that I am a Rigspelt fan; and that this fic will ultimately get there!

Any reviews would be appreciated. Please note that English is not my first language; so I apologize if there are any glaring mistakes—I am trying my best.

Thanks.

* * *

**Life's Changes**

**Prologue**

Grace sat typing fervently at her desk; the tip-tapping of her keystrokes the only sound resonating in the empty office beyond the low hums of a dozen of PCs.

It was late; and she was still working. She was always working. Grace liked to keep busy; and her job was her number one priority right now. She took tremendous pride in the work she did and was always getting slack from her colleagues for being a workaholic.

She finished typing off her last report of the night and quickly saved the file onto the internal server. She took a quick glance at the clock and saw that it was already half past 9. She silently chided herself for not following her initial plan of staying until just seven before heading home—but her unit just closed one of their biggest cases to date; and she was determined to finish her paperwork.

As she powered down her computer; Grace took a look around the office. Like all bullpens; it was a huge a room filled with various workstations, conference tables and office stuff. They had recently moved into this office and everything had the "brand new" feel to it.

As Grace gathered her things and headed towards the bank of elevators; she reflected upon the last three years of her life. Things didn't always work out the way you wanted it; she knew that, but part of her also felt that everything was meant to be; and that she was where she was right now for a reason.

She wasn't going to question or analyze it to death.

But, sometimes, when she was alone, late at night—she thought if things could have been different. If her life would have been completely different had she not made the decisions she made. She didn't need a second thought to think of which was that life-changing decision was.

Her decision to break the heart of the man that loved her—a man she was also deeply in love with. But she didn't want to tangle up love and work; and made one decision that would change the entire course of her career and life.

Grace sighed as she stepped into the elevator and waited as it descended quickly down the twenty floors to the lobby. She gave the two night guards a smile as she made her way through the exit turnstile and out the front door.

She wasn't two steps outside of her building when she was became lost in a huge crowd of people. There were other professionals rushing home at this late hour; and others heading out to begin a Friday night of fun—swarms of people gobbled her up as she picked up her pace to keep up with the surging city.

This was home now—no longer the calm and mellow of Sacramento; but of one of the world' largest metropolitans. She never saw herself as a "big city" girl; but she had fallen in love with this city and couldn't imagine herself elsewhere.

Yes, her life was totally different now. You could say it was almost foreign—half way across the world; but it was her life now, and she was okay with that.

* * *

Please R&R! I hope to have the next chapter up later today. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 1

**Title:** Life's Changes **  
Author:** cdub77**  
Rating:** K**  
Disclaimer:** Not mine.**  
Notes:** I apologize for taking such a gap since I posted the prologue—this has been sitting on my computer for some time now. Hopefully you enjoy—will be updating this more frequently now. Your reviews are much appreciated.

**Chapter 1**

Grace walked quickly along the busy sidewalk towards her bus stop. She didn't have a personal car here since public transportation was so convenient. Her office was at the heart of the commercial/business area of the city; so there were ample ways to get home—but she enjoyed the bus as it was reliable and she could always find a seat.

_Maybe I just like sitting on the top deck_, she thought with a smile as she got into line.

It was only a few minutes later when Bus #113 pulled into the stop and she quickly found a seat on the second deck. She settled into her spot next to an elderly lady and watched the city go by as the bus lurched towards the cross harbour tunnel.

"Such red hair," the old lady next to her said to another lady sitting across the aisle. "I wonder if it's real?"

Grace continued looking out the window as she listened to the two ladies discussed her hair—the other lady was convinced it wasn't natural. She smiled, the ladies totally oblivious to the fact that she could fully understand what they were saying in their local language.

Her knack of languages was a newly discovered talent—she never saw herself as a linguist—heck, growing up in Iowa you were not exposed to any other languages. But; over the last three years she had become somewhat fluent in the local dialect as well as a few others that were essential to her line of work.

Who would have thought?

* * *

_**Three years earlier…**_

"_Ma'am, you asked to see me?"_

"_Come in Grace, please, take a seat," Hightower said, putting down the file she was reading and gesturing to her to sit._

_Grace quickly took a seat across the desk from her boss; folding her hands in her lap._

_Hightower took a good look at Grace van Pelt. She was an experienced Agent who had seen pretty much everything in her career in law enforcement. In fact, she saw in Grace a lot of the same qualities she had at the beginning of her career._

_Grace looked intently at Hightower; waiting for her to say something. Over the last few months; she had fallen into a good working relationship with the new boss. At the beginning; it was precarious at best—not knowing where she stood in the mind of the new boss while also worrying about what she would do if she had found out about her and Wayne._

_But; that was no longer a problem—she knew Hightower respected her work as an Agent. The other issue—well, it was a moot point now. Everyone knew what happened in regards to her and Rigsby; and she wasn't going to dwell on it._

"_I know the last few weeks have been especially difficult for you Grace—with the Patterson case," Hightower began, referring to the recent case they had closed that involved the gruesome murder of a six-year-old girl. "You single-handily found the crucial piece of information we needed in nailing our guy," Hightower continued, "if it wasn't for your efforts with that encrypted hard-drive, we would still be going in circles."_

_Grace could feel her cheeks getting a bit red—even though she knew that she did good work; she still wasn't comfortable at the compliments she was often given._

"_Thank you, ma'am; but it was a team effort. I wouldn't have been able to figure out the missing link if Cho hadn't got the guy's girlfriend to talk."_

"_Yes, that is true, Agent, but, it was definitely your credit in figuring out that last piece. In fact, my superiors had been keeping a close eye on the case and were very impressed at your abilities to combine technology and good old-fashioned crime-solving together."_

"_Thank you."_

"_They were so impressed, that I received a special request in my inbox today. That is why I want to speak with you."_

_Grace watched as Hightower grabbed a file folder from the side of her desk and passed it to her. She took it quickly and flipped through the pages contained inside. Her eyes grew as she quickly skimmed the letter at the front of the documents._

"_I don't understand…am I being…transferred?" Grace asked; looking up from the file._

"_Not exactly," Hightower said, observing as Grace glanced back down to the file in front of her. "What you have in front of you is preliminary paper work that has been given to me to pass along to you. You need to take a good look at that file and let me know if what's inside is something you would be interested in."_

_Grace's mind was racing as she flipped through the pages. From her cursory glance, she knew that a position with a newly formed team was being offered to her; that she had been hand picked for the position and that they needed a response from her in the next 48 hours._

_She flipped back to the offer letter in the front when she caught something for the first time in the letterhead. Her heart stopped at the realization._

"_The FBI wants me?" Grace whispered; not believing it herself._

_Hightower smiled. "Yes, the FBI wants you. They actually sent out feelers to the various state-agencies to see if there were any bright talents they could utilize for this new team. When the request for an agent with exemplarily tech and field skills came to CBI's top guys; your name was quickly submitted."_

"_It was?" Grace said, somewhat surprised._

"_Yes. I've actually been in contact with a few people at the FBI the last few days regarding this matter. They are very interested for you to join them—the fact that you meet all their technical requirements is good; but I think what really had their interest was your…how shall I say it…your demographic," Hightower relayed._

"_My demographic?"_

"_Grace, I don't need to tell you that you are an excellent Agent; but not only that—but you are also a young, female agent. The FBI sees that as a major plus; given their current roster for this new Unit. They are very eager to see you join them to offer your skills and to balance out the team."_

"_Oh."_

"_I know this is a lot of information for you to process; and that this is a big decision for you. As you can read in the letter; they want an answer from you within the next 48 hours. I suggest you take the rest of the afternoon off so that you can go through the file and figure out if this is something you want to do."_

"_If I say yes, how much time will I have left with the CBI?"_

"_Until the end of the week, Grace. If you agree, you will have to report to Quantico next Monday to pass basic training before being given more details about your new position."_

_Grace nodded and stood up from the chair._

"_I'll let you know of my decision tomorrow morning," Grace said, taking the file and making her way towards the door._

"_And, Grace?" _

"_Yes, ma'am?" she said, stopping at the door to look back._

"_I am sure you realize that this decision will change the rest of your professional career. But, it's also a big decision regarding everything else. I can safely say that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for such a young agent; so please consider everything before letting me know."_

"_I will, thank you."_

_She turned and left Hightower's office; walking quickly back to her desk in the bullpen. She grabbed her purse and jacket from her cabinet and hastily made her way towards the elevators towards her car. She had a lot to think about; and she needed to get away from the office._

_

* * *

_

"You're home late, ma'am," a voice greeted Grace as she entered her apartment a half hour later.

Startled, Grace flipped on the lights and was greeted by the friendly face of her housekeeper, Maria.

"I had a lot of paperwork to do," she replied simply, toeing off her heels. "It's never ending."

Maria stood up from the couch and walked over and took Grace's jacket and bags—going about their usual routine when she arrived home.

Maria was a tiny, Filipina lady who Grace employed as her helper. When she first moved here, she was surprised at the sheer number of domestic helpers from the Philippines and Indonesia. She never saw herself as a person who would require any help at home; but was approached by Maria a few days after moving into her new place if she needed a helper.

Turns out that Maria had been working for the family who previously lived in her apartment, and was now desperate to find a new employer since the family had moved to Canada. Maria was actually a year younger than Grace, and had already been working overseas for five years—she had her entire family back home that she was supporting, and couldn't afford to idle a few months as agencies tried to match her with a new employer.

Grace made a judgment call that day. In front of her, she saw a trustworthy lady, who was hard working and needed a job. She wanted to help her, so she agreed to hire her. Since that day, she and Maria had grown close—she saw her as a friend and somebody who she could confide to. In some ways, their lives were very similar—they were both far from home and trying to do their best in the world.

Maria thanked her lucky stars at getting such a wonderful employer. She had worked for previous families that worked her to the bone; and never a 'thank you' or smile. With Grace, she felt empowered to make her own decisions and saw herself as an equal; not just a maid. She wasn't asked to do much—to make sure the apartment was clean, prepare meals, run random errands and such. She was very lucky; and worked hard to maintain her keep.

"I made fish and vegetables today, there's a warm plate still in the oven," Maria said, before disappearing down the hall with her things.

"Thank you, I'll have it after my shower," Grace replied, walking over to a locked drawer and placing her badge and gun inside. "Please retire for the night Maria, I can manage—it's late."

"Alright, ma'am. You go shower and I'll have the food out for you before I call it a night."

Grace smiled, thankful. "Perfect. I will see you tomorrow morning, then. Magandang gabi," she said, wishing Maria good night.

"Magandang gabi, ma'am," Maria said, turning towards the kitchen.

Grace watched Maria disappear into the kitchen then turned to head towards her room. If there was one thing she wished Maria would do/change; was to stop calling her 'ma'am' (in fact, when Maria said the word; it sounded closer to 'mum'). She had asked her on several occasions to just call her Grace, but always found herself being called otherwise. Maria had reassured her that it just came out naturally and that there wasn't anymore meaning behind the word.

As Grace entered her room—her sanctuary—she made a mental list of things she had to accomplish that weekend. She was thankful that she wasn't on call this weekend and was looking forward to a relaxing few days. This would be her first proper weekend in close to two months; and she was going to enjoy it.

* * *

"_What do you think is going on?" Cho mumbled to Rigsby, as they both stood to the back of Hightower's office; leaning against a table. _

"_Beats me," Wayne replied, glancing around the room. Libson and van Pelt were sitting in the two chairs facing the boss' desk and Jane, well, Jane took the liberty to sit in Hightower's empty chair as they waited for her._

"_Five bucks that it has to do with the little stunt Jane pulled on Monday," Cho said._

_Wayne didn't reply; as he was intently watching Grace from his spot. The last few months has been difficult for him—having to see her day in and day out; and know that he couldn't be with her. At first, he didn't think he would be able to be in such proximity with the women of his dreams; and not having her; but over the last few months they fell into a comfortable understanding that this was just the way it is. Before anything else, Grace was firstly his friend; and if he had to suck it up and deal with it—he would, for her. He wasn't happy about it; but deep down he knew that there would come a time where their circumstances would be different; and he'd do something about it. If they were meant to be together; it would work out—if he had to wait, than so be it._

"_Thank you all for coming," Hightower said, snapping Wayne out of his train of thought. Jane stood up from the seat and offered the chair back to her; choosing to stand by the window instead._

"_I've asked you all here because there is an important announcement regarding personnel that will take affect in a few days," she began, looking around the room._

_Wayne listened to the words carefully. A personnel change? Maybe that stupid rule of colleagues not dating was getting the boot, he hoped?_

_Jane was watching intently the scene playing out in front of him. He had a good hunch as to what Hightower was about to say. He watched as Grace fidgeted with the hem of her skirt; not looking up from her chair; Wayne had a dopey look on his face, most likely thinking there might be a chance for him now._

"_After a few days of talk, yesterday I was given a formal request by another government agency to invite a member of this team to join them. This person was hand picked amongst many possible applicants because of their skills, abilities and personality."_

_Wayne's mind was spinning. Was the Boss talking about him? _

"_I spoke to this Agent yesterday and presented them with this request and all the information about the transfer. I asked this Agent to let me know of their decision today; and that is why I am asking to speak to all of you."_

_It wasn't him, Wayne thought—he never had a discussion with Hightower about this. He took a glance at Cho; asking him silently if it was him. He responded with a subtle shake of the head._

_His attention turned to the two female agents in front, and his heart dropped. It couldn't be._

"_I am happy to announce that Agent van Pelt has accepted this opportunity and she will be leaving us at the CBI by the end of the week."_

_This couldn't be happening, Wayne thought. No._

_Jane watched the horror and realization wash over Wayne's face. The poor guy was losing it._

"_She will be reporting to Quantico on Monday to begin basic training, and will spend the next few days putting her affairs in order here."_

_No no no no no no._

_Deciding he would help Wayne out, Jane walked over next to Grace._

"_Congratulations, Grace. The FBI is very lucky to have you," he said, giving her a reassuring smile._

"_Thank you," she replied softly; part of her wondering if she made the right decision._

"_I hope I'm not too forth in asking, but why did you take the position?" Jane continued, eyeing Wayne at the back of the room, "are you not happy here?"_

"_No, it's not that. My goal was always to eventually work with the FBI; it's just happening a lot faster as they presented me with an amazing opportunity—I am going to miss all of you, very much," she said straight-forwardly, without any emotion._

"_Well, I'm so proud of you Grace, we'll have to plan a get together for everyone Friday night or over the weekend," Libson said, genuinely happy that Grace was seizing such a great opportunity._

"_Yes, lets plan something for Friday night," Hightower said, grabbing a folder from the top of her desk. "With Agent van Pelt's departure, we'll be looking to fill up her vacant spot on this team. It will be hard to find a replacement at the same caliber; but we will try our best."_

_She handed the file over to Libson, who nodded; knowing a preliminary list of Agents possible was inside. _

_With the announcement over, everyone stood to leave Hightower's office. Grace, avoiding making eye contact with Wayne, quickly left the office. _

"_Well, I was wrong; this is yours," Cho said, grabbing a $5 from his wallet and holding it out in front of Rigsby._

_Rigsby couldn't believe this was happening. He had to talk to Grace._

_Now._

_

* * *

_

Grace took the last few bites of her food and placed the fork on the table. Another plus of having Maria around was that she was an excellent cook—she had a natural knack for cooking and took a genuine interest in learning new dishes. At the beginning, her cooking repertoire consisted of only Filipino and Chinese cuisine (after years cooking for Chinese families); but she now was able to cook a wide variety of "western" cuisine, especially dishes that Grace missed from home.

Grace never considered herself a good cook; so she was always giving Maria ideas for new dishes for her to try and experiment with—when Maria showed up with a pamphlet for cooking classes at a local American-owned grocery store; Grace was more than happy to sign her up and pay for the classes.

She looked out the big bank of windows on the one side of her apartment—she lived on the 33rd floor and had a pretty spectacular view of the harbour and the world famous skyline. She lived on the Kowloon side of the harbour and could actually see the building where her office was located across the harbour in Central.

She loved her apartment. When she had first moved to Hong Kong, she had heard about how expensive things were and that she would consider herself lucky if she found an affordable apartment that was not the side of a shoebox. She wasn't sure who was watching over her, but just a week after arriving, she met somebody that changed everything.

* * *

_She was late. _

_Crap._

_It was her first week on the new job, and she was already running late on the fourth day._

_She had to be one of a thousand of other people who were making their way to work at the heart of Hong Kong's busy business district—people were walking in every which way and she was still trying to remember the exact way she had to go on the pedestrian bridge._

_Thankfully, she spotted the connecting bridge to her building's entrance up ahead and made a dash towards it. She was looking through her bag for her security key card when she collided into somebody walking in the same direction. Her lanyard with the key card and bag went flying as she fought to remain standing._

"_I'm sorry," a voice said from behind her, "I didn't see you coming."_

_Grace turned around and was surprised to see that the person she collided to was a petite Asian lady, who she guessed was about the same age as her._

"_No worries, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, either…thanks," Grace said, as she accepted her fallen key card and bag from the lady._

"_You work on the 15__th__ Floor, too?" the lady said, noticing that her key card was similar to hers—non descript with no identifiers besides the name._

"_Yeah, my first week," Grace replied, knowing that everyone called the FBI offices in the building as the 15__th__ Floor._

_They both swiped their cards at the turnstile and walked towards the bank of elevators._

"_Who are you working with upstairs?" the lady asked, as they walked into a waiting elevator._

"_Ummm…with Henao?" Grace replied._

"_Ahhh…you're with that new team I keep hearing about?"_

"_Yeah."_

_They both got off on the 15__th__ Floor and made their way through a secondary set of security procedures._

"_I guess we'll be crossing paths in the future then Special Agent—I'm an analyst; been here a few years now," she said, as she placed her finger on the scanner. _

"_I'm looking forward to it; it's just been a lot of orientation and procedural things the last few days."_

"_Don't worry; you'll be in the thick of things soon…I heard Assistant Director Henao picked only the best for his new team."_

"_Thanks."_

_They walked into the main rotunda where the bustle was already picking up._

"_Well, I should check in with Henao now, it was nice speaking with you," Grace said; noticing that the members of her unit where all getting up to head into a conference room._

"_Same, let me know if you need help settling in," she said, turning to head out of the main rotunda towards the back offices._

_Realizing she was forgetting something, Grace quickly turned back around._

"_Hey, I didn't catch your name," she called out._

_The lady stopped, and turned back around._

"_It's Kai-Chee Lee; everyone calls me KC, though."_

"_It's nice to meet you KC, I'm—"_

"_Grace van Pelt," KC said, smiling when she saw the surprised look on Grace's face. "I read your badge before I gave it back to you downstairs."_

"_Right," Grace said, "I'll see you around?"_

"_Of course," she replied, before disappearing down the hall._

_

* * *

_

Since bumping into KC three years ago, she had quickly become a close friend and confident for Grace.

KC was two years older than Grace and was born in the former British territory. She and her family had immigrated to the San Francisco area when she was nine and while her father flew back and forth across the Pacific for his property development job, the rest of the family settled into an affluent neighborhood in Hillsborough.

KC's family story was typical for many people of her generation—her family was concerned about the impending handover of Hong Kong back to Chinese hands in 1997; and wanted to take precautions just in case. They were a family who lived very comfortably in Hong Kong, and was fortunate enough to replicate that lifestyle in the US with her father continuing to work in Hong Kong.

KC and her two younger brothers were raised in the typical American way—but with strong Chinese influence and culture. They grew up playing soccer and having sleepovers at friends' house, and became American citizens several years later. All three excelled in school and it was not a surprise that for college she attended Stanford, less than an hour away from home in Palo Alto.

It was at Stanford that she got involved and fell in love with international politics, and was recruited by the FBI straight out of graduation. She quickly rose in the ranks of analysts for the Pacific Rim region and had assigned to the Hong Kong field office a few years later.

Being back in Hong Kong was easy for KC—her family regularly went back during holidays growing up. She was completely fluent in the local Chinese dialect of Cantonese and had become highly proficient in Mandarin during high school and college. Simply put, KC had no problems with moving back to her birth place.

Grace and KC instantly became fast friends—even though Grace had not grown up in California; they both had the same Californian outlook and attitude in life. And, KC quickly recognized that her friend's transfer to Hong Kong was her first time overseas and did everything she could to help her settle in.

The Lee family had become her family-away-from-home; and during the first few months of initial homesickness; she spent a lot of time with KC who introduced her to the rest of her family. KC's parents were now permanently living in Hong Kong again—her brothers were still living in California—and they treated Grace as another daughter to dote on.

It was through the help of KC and her father that she found her killer apartment. Mr. Lee worked as an executive in one of the top property development firms in Hong Kong, and knew all the right people when KC asked her father to help Grace find a place.

She lived in an ultra modern development that was only a few years old—the previous owners had only been there less than a year before deciding to move abroad. With the help of Mr. Lee, she was able to negotiate for a great deal and saw her apartment as an investment for the future. The Bureau was also paying her pretty well now, so she was content.

Grace was startled from her thoughts when she heard her phone ring. She looked down on the screen and smiled.

Speak of the devil…

"Hey KC, what's up?"

"Grace! Sorry I'm calling so late—I thought maybe you would have gone to bed already, you old lady!" KC laughed—it was an on-going joke between the two of them of granny tendencies of Grace and her lack of social life.

"You called just in time—was just about to call it a night," Grace said, getting up and tidying up her dishes.

"Congrats on closing the case, I know it was a big one."

"Thanks, I'm just glad it's over with—hopefully I can actually get this weekend off!"

"Speaking of weekend—are you free tomorrow night? There's a new club opening in Lan Kwai Fong and I was able to score a couple of VIP passes," KC said, referring to the area famous for its' clubs and bars.

"If it's just the girls, than for sure…but if you're trying to hook me up with somebody else, no way," Grace said, chiding her friend for her propensity to set her up on blind dates.

"Grace! I'm only trying to help—you're young, super hot…and a _gwailo_!" KC laughed, using the Cantonese term for a "white person"/foreigner.

"Your theory only works if the _gwailo_ is a guy!" Grace laughed.

KC's theory was that if you were single and a _gwailo_ in Hong Kong, you wouldn't be single for long. While Grace saw some merit in her "analysis"; in her mind, it only applied for the guys as Chinese girls went gaga over foreign men—no matter how they looked, if you knew what I mean!

"Moot point Grace, and you know it. You have to put more of an effort into it—you can't brood over that guy from home for all these years!"

Grace sighed, KC was right—but she really wasn't in the mindset of dating with her so busy with work…

"Fine, I'll see what I can do, alright?"

"That's my girl!" KC laughed, "so I'll see you tomorrow night?"

"Sure."

"I'll come over and pick you up," KC said, knowing Grace was sans car, lived closed to each other and she could easily pick her up before crossing the harbour to Hong Kong side.

"Perfect."

They made arrangements for the pick-up time before hanging up.

It looked like her weekend was picking up, already.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 2

Another chapter-sorry for the delay.

Also, something I think I should point out-I know you must be thinking-how in the world is the FBI (aka FEDERAL Bureau of Investigation) is working overseas...that it doesn't really make sense. Yea, I know! But, for the sake of the story; lets just say that this is a special FBI field office with special jurisdiction-they have a partnership with the local police force etc. So, please just overlook that small technicality :)

Thanks

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeep. Beeeeeeeep. Beep._

Grace groaned as she hit the snooze button on her alarm clock. She snuggled under her blanket some more and wished she had a few more hours before going in to work.

It had been an eventful weekend, and she was still recuperating. She had partied hard Saturday night with KC and their group of friends and had spent the majority of Sunday recovering.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeep. Beeeeeeep. Beep._

She looked at the clock and saw 7:15 in big bright digits. She hit the off button and sat up in her bed. Her head was still slightly pounding and she knew it was going to be a long day.

She stood up and stretched her tired limbs. Peering out of the big bank windows of her room; she could already tell it was going to be a hazy, hot and sticky day. She ducked into her bathroom en suite and quickly got ready for work.

She could still remember the first time she arrived in Hong Kong and the weather shock she felt.

_After a long 15 hours flight from Los Angeles, Grace was thankful when the big Boeing plane she was in touched down in Hong Kong. _

_She had been with the FBI for less than 6 months and her newly formed team—Unit 18—was being sent from their home base of LA to Hong Kong to support an investigation in counterfeit smuggling. _

_They would be fully briefed once they arrived to the HK field office, but from what she understood, the FBI was looking to expand their operations in the Asia-Pacific region, and was considering assigning one of their top units to the HK permanently. The Bureau had recently partnered up with the Hong Kong Police Force on various levels; and the ability to have a permanent team in the territory could now be a reality._

_Unit 18 was one of the teams being considered for this prestigious assignment; and this operation was their test run._

_She and the rest of her team made their way through customs and immigration before gathering their bags and entering the arrivals hall. They easily spotted a sign with the name __**EAGLE CORPORATION**__ on it, and were greeted by a smiling Chinese man._

_Grace stood towards the back of her team as she listened to the man introduce himself (his English name was Jack) and explained that he was one of the many local fixers for their "company". He would be taking them directly to the office where Assistant Director Henao was waiting for them._

_She followed the group as they walked towards the curb where a minibus would pick them up. The second she stepped outside, she immediately began to miss the air-condition of the terminal building._

_Jack smiled as he watched all them start to take off their jackets._

"_Summers in Hong Kong are extremely hot and sticky—the humidity and pollution index are through the roof today. It's something you'll have to get used to during your stay!" Jack explained, good-heartedly._

_Grace smiled in response, already feeling beads of sweat dripping down her back. She thought she was accustomed to the hot weather after living in Sacramento for a few years; but this was totally different. She wasn't sure if it was because she had just stepped off a long flight; but she felt a bit dizzy and suffocated. _

_When their minibus finally arrived on the curb, everyone quickly threw their bags into the underbelly before hopping in. _

_They all sighed in relief when they felt the cool air condition greet them. _

_She would really have to adapt to this weather if they ended up being assigned here…_

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, she walked out of her room, dressed and ready for work. The one thing she learnt about living in Hong Kong over the years was to wear layers—so when you're hot, you could shed something. But, to always bring a jacket/cardigan of some sort because working inside where air condition was blasting actually made things quite cold!

"Magandang umaga Maria," Grace said, walking into the kitchen.

"Good morning, ma'am," she replied, glancing up from the stove top. "Did you sleep alright?"

"I did, thank you," Grace said, pouring coffee into her tumbler and added a spoonful of powder creamer into it. "How was your holiday yesterday?" Grace asked, referring to Maria's day off on Sundays.

"It was good, my cousin Norma just got back from her holiday to the Philippines, and she brought back a lot of things from our hometown."

"Anything special?" Grace said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Just some food stuff—bagoong, the fermented fish paste I like and that you can only get from Ilocos Norte."

"You'll have to cook something with that for dinner this week, ok?"

"Of course, ma'am," Maria replied, turning off the stove. "Will you take your breakfast here today?" she asked, knowing that sometimes Grace would take her food to work to eat if she was in a hurry.

"No, I'll eat here, I'm not in a rush," Grace replied as she made her way out to the dinner table and sat down.

Maria appeared a moment later with her bowl of oatmeal and a large plate of fresh fruit. She placed everything down in front of Grace before returning to the table with her own breakfast and a copy of the _South China Morning Post_ and _USA Today_.

She thanked Maria as she skimmed the morning headlines.

"Is there anything special you want me to pick up at city'super today?" Maria asked as she went over her shopping list for the day.

Every Monday Maria went to the city'super supermarket in Tsim Sha Tsui where she picked up some of the more unique and hard-to-find imported western-style items on Grace's weekly shopping list. Everything else, she was able to pick up at the local wet market or regular supermarket where prices were considerably cheaper and quality just as good.

"Could you pick up two extra packs of prosciutto? KC is having a dinner party on Wednesday night and I'm in charge of an appetizer."

"Do you want me to pick up a honeydew, too?"

"Sure, if they're sweet. If not, I can get one at the fruit market on Wednesday."

"Anything else?"

"Oh, can you help me pick something up at the Government Offices in Cheung Shan Wan?" Grace asked, stabbing a pineapple slice with her fork.

"Of course, is it your updated Hong Kong ID card?"

"Yeah, I got a reminder that it should be ready now. I should have submitted all the paperwork at the main Wan Chai branch so I could just pop over during my lunch break to pick it up…" Grace mumbled, chewing on her fruit as she thought back to a few weeks prior when the two of them went to get her HK ID card sorted out. "Don't forget to bring the form where I gave you permission to pick it up on my behalf…"

"I won't, I will go pick up the card for you and then take the MTR to city'super this morning. Is there anything else?"

"I think that's it. I'll call you if something comes up-I shouldn't be too late tonight," Grace said, finishing the last of her oatmeal.

Maria nodded and finished up the rest of the fruit on the plate. Once she was done, she grabbed Grace's half-empty coffee tumbler and went back into the kitchen to refill it.

Grace took a few extra moments to read the paper and was surprised to see an article in the SCMP about their recently closed case-the article didn't give out too much detail, but it did say that a huge human trafficking ring had been busted and several high level Triad members were now going to be extradited to the US to face additional charges. There were quotes from the Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police as well as from the top brass of the FBI based in the territory.

Her Special Unit as of late had been focusing on countless individuals from several criminal organizations that were operating both in Asia and back home. Not all her cases were as high profile as the most recent one; but Grace was always satisfied when her work led to arrests no matter how big or small.

Grace finished with the SCMP and folded the USA Today into her work bag to read on the bus ride. She brought her dishes from breakfast into the kitchen and thanked Maria as she handed over her now refilled coffee tumbler.

A few minutes later she was on her way for another week of work.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Grace was settled into her desk, looking over the daily briefings and news alerts. She usually was the first person to arrive, and enjoyed the quiet solitude of her mornings to get settled for the rest of the day.

Since moving to this new office a few months earlier, her team was finally starting to settle in. It was in the same building as their previous location, but they now occupied the 20th Floor.

The 20th Floor was home to Unit 18, but also a few other elite teams of various American agencies that roamed throughout the Asia-Pacific region. While Unit 18 was the only permanent team of its kind assigned to Hong Kong, they were often times joined by other teams on an operation-by-operation basis. It wasn't uncommon for them to travel, either, as the assignments were fluid in nature.

All their desks were situated on the same side of the bullpen, in front of a hallway that led to conference rooms, tech rooms and storage areas that were dedicated to their Unit only. Simply put, their new location was the best of the best, and everything was at their disposal when needed.

"Good morning Grace," a voice said, breaking the silence of the bullpen.

Grace looked up from her computer screen and smiled. Joseph "Joey" Chiu was the Special Agent in Charge of Unit 18. He was a third-generation Chinese-American originally from Dallas, Texas and had already been the leader of this Unit when she joined out of the Farm. He was in his early 40s and Grace highly respected him for his leadership qualities and ability to manage their Unit as professionally as he did.

"Good morning, sir," Grace replied, "I hope your daughter had an excellent birthday party yesterday."

"She did. She made you a thank-you card for the present—she couldn't believe you were able to find a baseball glove her size here in Hong Kong."

"I made a special request to my parents—they usually send over a care package every few months and I asked them to include a glove after I found out she wanted one."

"That was very thoughtful of you, thanks again."

"Anytime," Grace replied.

"Where is everyone else?" Chiu asked, looking around at the empty workstations.

"I think everyone enjoyed their weekend off a bit too much?"

"You've all earned it," Chiu replied, "We'll move back our daily debrief an hour, please tell everyone when they get in," he continued, referring to the regular morning meeting.

"Alright, sir."

"Thanks, Grace" Chiu said as he disappeared down the hallway to his office.

A few minutes later, she was going through her inbox when she heard familiar chatter enter the bullpen.

"Miggy, your Mets have lost their last 5 games and you're telling me that you're not worried?"

"Come on Big O! It's still early in the season—at least I know my team will always be in contention come the Fall unlike your Nationals!"

"Don't get me started on them! There's a reason I'm no longer a baseball fan," the first voice replied.

"Sorry guys, but I think my Mariners have both of your teams beat. They've been on fire since those two Japanese ball players joined the team!" a third voice added.

"Ryan, we don't care about the Mariners since they don't play in the same division as the Mets and Nationals…plus, the team isn't even in the National League! You know what Miggy and I think about—"

"Boys, boys, boys…enough with the baseball talk!" a female voice interrupted, exasperated. "Van Pelt! Thank goodness you are here, save me from the testosterone!" the voice continued.

Grace turned around at her desk and was greeted by the rest of Unit 18. The lone female walked over to Grace and gave her a big hug.

"You can't believe the morning I am having…my alarm didn't go off, I forgot my coffee at home and I had the brilliant luck of running into the Three Stooges over there when I got off the MTR!" she said, plopping her bag down at her desk adjacent to Grace's.

"I can feel your pain, Kay…" Grace said, "that's why I take the bus to get to work!"

Kekoa Kealoha laughed at Grace's remark. Being the only other female agent in Unit 18, Grace and Kekoa saw each other as sisters and always had each other's backs. They were both the same age and were recruited in the same fashion to join the FBI. While Grace was hand picked out of the CBI ranks, Kekoa was poached from the Honolulu Police Department. She would always jokingly say that her previous job was on a team similar to Hawaii Five-O, minus the glamour and cute guys.

Everybody also knew not to mess with Kekoa. She was a firearms specialist who could practically handle any weapon and would surprise the heck out of anybody who underestimated her.

If you saw Kekoa on the streets, you would not have guessed that her profession was in law enforcement—she looked and fit the typical stereotype of a Hawaiian beauty. Her exotic looks were thanks to her Hawaiian, Swedish, German and Japanese background and had she not been happily married to her childhood sweetheart, she would be a big fish to catch in Hong Kong!

Grace always felt like Plain Jane when she and Kekoa went out.

"Did you and Kalani have a good weekend?" Grace asked, as she watched Kekoa boot up her computer.

"We did! We finally did some trekking in the New Territories—it reminded the both of us of back home…" she said, "I'll have to show you some of the pictures we took—the views were amazing!"

Grace smiled, she was not surprised that Kekoa would spend her weekend off outdoors—both she and her husband Kalani were the outdoors/adventure types. They would happily spend a weekend trekking through trails in crazy hot temperatures than indoors in an air-conditioned shopping mall!

"You should come with us next time—you'll love it, trust me."

"Next time."

Grace turned back to her computer screen and noticed something interesting flashing in one of her widgets on her desktop.

"Hey Miggy," she called over her shoulder, "looks like it's going to be 6 in a row for the Mets. My Giants just homered in the bottom of the eighth and we're now up by three runs!"

"Crap! They were up by two when I left my place…they'll come back at the top of the ninth!"

"Not with the bottom of your order batting!" Grace said, looking closer at the box score.

"I can't understand why you're a Giants fan, van Pelt!"

"I only cheer for the best, Borrego."

Grace smiled as she heard Miggy mutter to himself in Spanish at his desk.

Miguel Borrego was Unit 18's unofficial class clown. He was known for his care-free and laid back attitude—always ready to crack a joke and make light of a tense situation. But, he was also a very talented Profiler who had worked on some of the highest profile cases of the Bureau. He was definitely somebody you wanted on your team.

In his mid 30s, Miguel hailed from the tough streets of New York City where he joined the NYPD out of high school and quickly rose through the ranks. He was recruited by the FBI soon after and was based in Latin America early in his career, taking advantage of his Puerto Rican background. When the opportunity to move to Hong Kong presented itself, Miggy did not hesitate to relocate his entire family. He was married to a pretty Thai girl (who he met when traveling through Thailand) and had a young family. He had a great love for Asia and couldn't imagine him or his family anywhere else.

"Not that I'll admit to following, but it looks like the Nationals won their game this morning against the Astros."

Grace glanced over to the desk next to Miguel's. Hailing from the nation's capital, Otis Campbell, like Miguel, had been with the FBI for many years now. They both graduated from the same FBI Academy class and while Miggy spent his early years in Latin America, Otis worked in a joint-task force with the DEA where he was sent to his parents' homeland of Jamaica and worked undercover.

Big O, as he was fondly called, was Unit 18's go-to-guy when it came to anything science—he had expertise from bomb making to arson and many things in between. His tremendous skill was only matched by the size of his heart—he and his wife had adopted a pair of siblings from Jamaica several years earlier and were also financially supporting an orphanage on the island, too.

"I can't wait until baseball season is over," Kekoa mumbled from her desk, "thank goodness I don't have a team or we'll be spending every morning arguing about this!"

"I thought you said you supported the Mariners!" the last member of the team said, leaning back in his chair.

"Just because I have ohana in Seattle and spent two years of school there, doesn't make me a card carrying M's fan club member…" she replied sarcastically.

"You just won't admit to liking a team that I cheer for!"

Grace smirked. Kekoa and Ryan had the love-hate banter down pat between the two of them. Kekoa saw Ryan as the annoying older brother who wouldn't leave her alone.

Ryan Lancaster was just a few years older than Grace and Kekoa. He hailed from Seattle, where his family could trace their roots back to the Denny Party, who were a group of pioneers that founded the city in 1851.

His area of expertise, surprisingly considering his background, was in languages—from an early age he had shown tremendous interest and ability in languages and by the time he graduated from NYU, he was fluent in a dozen of languages. Since graduation and joining the FBI (initially as an analyst), he had added an additional handful of languages to his repertoire. His knowledge was extremely helpful to Unit 18, as his ability to speak such a variety of languages usually caught their suspects by surprise.

It was Ryan who was helping Grace beef up her linguistic skills, providing her with instruction and great techniques in getting her brain wrapped around languages that were so foreign to her. She was grateful for his patience.

Grace quickly informed the rest of her team of Chiu's decision to push back the morning debrief by an hour, before tuning out the never-ending banter between Kekoa and Ryan and focusing back on her emails.

Unit 18 was a tight group. They were formed from scratch three years earlier and had gone through a lot since then—each member knew their responsibility within the team; and more importantly could read each other like second nature. When one member of the team was having an off day; the others would pick up their game and make sure that the team was operating at full capacity. That was the barometer of an elite team, and they were one of the best.

As Grace glanced around at her team, she couldn't think of better people to work with. When she first joined Unit 18, she was nervous about getting along with the rest of the team—on paper, she was the greenest of the group.

She was picked for the Unit because of her prowess with all things computers. She wouldn't consider herself at the level of some of the tech guys; but to quote the FBI evaluators who had picked her, she "possesses an uncanny ability to combine technological know-how with advance field operations. Her ability to uncover critical details that are oftentimes overlooked while applying unique investigative skills has allowed Agent van Pelt to stand out amongst her fellow contemporaries. She works well in a team setting while also having the crucial capability of working independently to complete her assignments. Simply put, Agent van Pelt is an exemplary Agent who undoubtedly is on the fast track within the Bureau."

She remembered turning bright red when she had initially read her file for the first time. On the first day of Unit 18's existence, Chiu had given each person a file that contained full Bureau evaluations of their new team members as well as a very detailed biographical and professional breakdown. It was Chiu's philosophy that a team worked best if they knew all the ins and outs of each member, and he had stressed team cohesiveness from the start.

In a nutshell, Unit 18 was a family—they experienced all the highs and lows of their fast paced life together, and at the end of the day they knew that nobody understood their experiences like each other.

* * *

_Grace staggered towards her locker and braced herself against the hard metal frame. She could barely keep herself on her feet—having been running on adrenaline for the last few hours after the craziest 48 hours of her life._

_She eased herself onto the metal bench adjacent to her locker and buried her head in her hands. She took deep breaths to steady herself, but she could feel her heart continuing to beat non-stop. _

_She glanced up uneasily when she heard footsteps approach and the door open and close. She watched as the rest of her team walked into their locker room and sat down on their respective benches. _

_No words were exchanged as each member sat in quiet silence. They didn't have to say anything as they all experienced the past 48 hours together. _

_Grace started to take off her heavy Kevlar vest, pulling at the Velcro and snaps. Her body ached as she struggled to get her left arm out of the cumbersome vest. She felt a hand stop her mid-effort and glanced up to see Kekoa standing next to her. She was staring at the back side of her arm, obviously concerned about it._

_Grace had to turn herself to face the mirrored glass on her locker door to see what Kay was worried about. There was a huge gash on her arm, the cut looked pretty deep and blood was slowly seeping out. She knew something had happened to her arm, but ignored the throbbing pain…they were given cursory medical evaluations at the scene earlier, but she hadn't realized the severity of her arm until the vest had been removed._

"_It's nothing," Grace said, looking back at Kekoa who was now rummaging through her locker a few feet away. _

"_At least let me clean it up for you—you might need stitches to close that…" she replied, coming back over with a small first aid kit. _

"_Here, use this for now," Ryan said, walking over from his locker and handing Grace a jar of putty like substance._

_Grace took the jar as Kekoa gently removed the shirt she was wearing and began to clean out her gash. "It looks like you might need some, too, Ry" Grace said, looking at the cut on his face. _

"_Mines superficial—it's all dried out…yours, not the case," he said, taking off his tactical gear and throwing his smoky smelling shirt into the large laundry bin. _

_Grace grimaced as Kekoa continued to clean out her wound. _

"_The bleeding looks like its stopping—maybe you won't need those stitches after all…" she commented, throwing a bloodied ball of gauze into the trash._

"_Chiu is still going to want the docs to check you out, Grace" Miggy said from across the locker room. He was sitting on his bench, still completely dressed, unmoving_

_"I'll be fine," Grace said wincing as Kekoa tied a bandage tightly around her arm. "I've had worse."_

_Grace sat back down on her bench and saw out of the corner of her eye that Kekoa was heading to the showers. She just wanted to get the hell out of there and started to get changed. She gently pulled a clean shirt over her head and grabbed her jacket-she was pretty sure she still looked like a mess; but she didn't care at this point._

_She threw a few things into a duffel bag and swung it over her good arm._

_Without saying anything, she left the locker room quietly and made her way down to the lobby of the building. She walked out onto the pedestrian bridge and made her way towards a familiar place. A few minutes later, she was walking into an upscale mall where she took the escalator down two levels. The hostess at the entrance of the American-style bar and grill recognized Grace right away and said that her usual table was free._

_Grace thanked her and made her way through the mid-afternoon office crowd, stopping at the bar to order herself a beer before heading to the back corner booth. She threw her bag on the ground and sat down heavily, taking a long swig from her bottle. Jenny, the usual waitress stopped by and Grace placed an order for mussels and the Filet Mignon._

_She was on her second beer and polishing off the last few mussels in her appetizer when two figures slid into the booth to join her. Otis and Ryan already had their own beers in hand and quickly placed their orders with Jenny when she came by. Soon a big platter of nachos and potato skins were sitting at the table, as the three of them quietly ate._

_A few minutes later Kekoa joined them, sitting next to Grace and grabbing a spear of asparagus off her plate. Rounding up the group, Miguel and Chiu arrived a few minutes later, ordering another round of beers for the table. As more food arrived at the table, they ate in silence, not needing to say anything. Grace picked at what little was left of her mashed potatoes, and put her fork down._

_"They were just kids," she said, breaking the silence at the table, "what father would put his kids into danger like that?"_

_"A coward of a man, that's who..." Ryan said, putting his own fork down._

_"I tried to get to them in time..." Grace whispered, flashing back to the chaos of the fire and smoke._

_"There wasn't anything you could have done; I was right behind you..." Miguel said._

_"If only we got there earlier...what we saw there…" Grace said, her voice breaking._

"_No one should ever have to see children that way," Otis said; his face hard. _

_Silence engulfed the table again. _

"_Everyone has tomorrow off—do whatever you have to do to get your heads back together," Chiu said, signaling for the cheque. "If you want to talk to Dr. Coughlin, just let me know…"_

_They'll get through this, they always did._

* * *

"Good morning everyone," a voice said, interrupting the baseball conversation, "I hope you all enjoyed your weekends."

Five voices replied in the affirmative.

"Please join Chiu and me in the conference room in fives minutes—something just came across my desk that we need to discuss."

Assistant Director Alberto Henao smiled and excused himself—making his way towards Chiu's office.

Grace quickly finished up with the email she was working on and started to gather her things for the meeting. She swung by the break area to fill her water canteen before entering the conference room.

Exactly five minutes later, Chiu and Henao entered the room together.

Alberto Henao was the FBI's top guy in Hong Kong.

"To begin, I just wanted to offer congratulation for the job well done last op—we've been after Zhang for several years now," Henao said, taking the spot at the front of the room. "Usually when a big case like that ends; we get some time to regroup and focus on the next assignment—well, I already have our next case," Henao explained; pulling up some files on the big screen at the front of the room.

"This," Henao continued; bringing up several surveillance photos of a man who looked to be in his early 30s onto the screen, "is Tiago Barroso. As you can tell by his appearance and name; he is of Chinese-Portuguese background—his family has been in Macau since Portuguese settlement."

"Mr. Barroso's family is heavily involved with the casinos in Macau—his parents are prominent members of the Macanese community," Chiu said, drawing attention to more surveillance photos. "Tiago and his siblings were sent to primary schools in Hong Kong and eventually boarding school and College in the United States."

"I won't go over all the details of his file with you now; you can read the briefs later—but we've had an eye on Tiago for a few years now and some developments stateside in the last few months have led our Unit to become involved with this case now," Chiu continued.

"Yes, in a nutshell—Tiago has been running a very lucrative human smuggling network the last few years. Young women and girls from all over Southeast Asia have been tricked into believing they were getting legitimate jobs in Macau; only to be smuggled into the United States and Europe via Barroso's network."

Grace watched as photos appeared on the screen of young women and girls.

"Over the weekend a major arm of the network was apprehended in San Francisco and we now have some key figures in custody that we are now trying to turn so that we can go after Tiago."

"How are we going to be involved?" Otis asked from the back of the room.

"We'll be taking the lead on all investigation and activities here in Hong Kong and Macau—both territories are heavily tied into Barroso's network," Henao explained. "We are also going to be liaising with a team of agents that will be coming from California," Henao explained. "The arm of the network that was brought down recently was accomplished through a joint task force between our agency and the CBI—thus the bosses above will be sending over a small CBI team to promote and continue this inter-office relationship."

Grace's stomach dropped at hearing the CBI connection. She knew her former employer's had a wide network in California and hundreds of trained agents operating in the state.

Kekoa eyes Grace across the table, knowing exactly the thoughts that were running through her friend's head. She was the only person on the Unit who knew more about Grace's past with the CBI—the little that Grace opened up about, that is.

"We've been asked to integrate these Agents into our Unit and work together to bring down Barroso. I know each of you know how important working with other government agencies is—our presence here in Hong Kong is an example of this."

"When are they arriving?" Miggy asked, predictably chewing on the end of his pen.

"They are already in the air as we speak; landing later this afternoon," Chiu explained. "I've asked Jack to pick them up at the airport and help them settle into their hotels for the night before an introductory meeting tomorrow morning."

"Grace," Henao said from the front of the room, "since you were with the CBI before joining us; I am hoping you'll make a special effort in making sure the Agents get accustomed to Hong Kong quickly."

"Of course," Grace said.

"We all will," Kekoa added.

"May I ask who is being sent over? Perhaps I might know a few of them?" Grace asked.

Henao took a folder from the table and flipped through it quickly.

"They are sending over a team of four agents that have been working the Barroso case the last two years—the very best of the CBI I've been told," he said, scanning through the pages. "Agent Don Lang, Agent Sofia Valdez, Agent Eric Milby and Senior Agent in charge of the team is…" Henao turned the page, "…Wayne Rigsby."

Grace's stomach dropped when she heard the name. She was not surprised to hear that Wayne was a Senior Agent in charge of his own team—it was just her luck that it was his team that was involved with this case.

"Do you know Senior Agent Rigsby?" Henao asked, putting the file down, "he used to work in the Sacramento office like you did."

"Yes, I know Senior Agent Rigsby—we were on the same team prior to my departure for the FBI," Grace answered slowly, knowing that she couldn't lie about knowing him.

"Perfect—I'm sure you both can catch up and help in their transition."

With that said, Henao dismissed the meeting by asking everyone to go over the entire Barroso case in preparation for the next day.

As Grace exited the conference room; she felt a hand grab her elbow and pull her down the hall towards the locker rooms.

"Are you ok?" Kekoa asked, as they walked into the empty room and looking at Grace carefully. "Is Rigsby THAT guy?" she asked, knowing Grace would understand that meaning of the question.

Grace glanced down at her hands.

"Yeah, Wayne's the guy I told you about…"

"Oh Grace…" Kekoa said, giving her friend a hug. "Will you be alright seeing him again?"

"I haven't spoken to him since I left the CBI—I'm sure he hates me or something with the way I dealt with everything…"

"You can't keep running from him anymore…"

"I know," Grace sighed. "I'll be fine Kay…don't worry, I'll deal with this. I think it's time…plus, who knows—maybe he's happily married and has a family by now!"

Grace's stomach did a flip at the thought of Wayne married and having a family with someone else.

"I'm here for you if you need anything…" Kekoa said softly.

"Thanks Kay…lets go review the case files—you know the boys will be waiting for us to start."

Kekoa gave her another hug before leaving the quiet room. Grace took a quick glance at herself in the mirror.

She could do this.

She had to.

**TBC**

Please read and review, thanks!**  
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